Melissa McLelland opens for one of sa国际传媒's harder rocking stars Matthew Good who's bringing it down to an acoustic level at the Port Theatre on Monday.
I caught McLelland with her full band this June in Toronto at NXNE with an impressive showcase. She's got the pipes and the experience to deliver live. I see definite parallels with Sarah Harmer, uber-talented Canadian songstress, but with a bluesier, slightly dirtier edge. Monday's performance is scheduled to make up for a cancelled date earlier this year.
"(Last time out with Good) was the first chance I had to play for an audience that size, 250 to 700 people; nice theatres, attentive audiences, I sold lots of CDs and made new fans," she says.
McLelland has been out in support of her third album Thumbelina's One Night Stand (released in April), a 'countrypolitan' sound merging roots influence with jazz and wrapped around a pop sensibility. But make no mistake these are dark stories about obsession, desperation, deception, and love; dark and lovely to listen to.
I spoke with McClelland on the phone somewhere along Route 66. She's traveling the infamous route from top to toes, Chicago to L.A., with two filmmakers in tow working on a documentary:
"It's an idea I came up with on my own. On the road you're short of time to see and experience the things you want to. I decided to find a way to do it," she says.
"There's so much legend behind it," she says of the renowned highway.
Seven songs from the album are being performed on location, stripped down and solo, for eventual online broadcast. Check out www.melissamcclelland.com for more info. Monday's show starts at 7:30 p.m. It's sold out but more tickets may be released, call the Port Theatre at 754-8550.
- With over a decade in the trenches of the music industry, we're reasonably sure Alexandria knows what she's talking about: e-mail at [email protected].